Working in Sydney

If you'd have told me before I left England that I would end up selling reindeer antlers for charity... to be honest I would have probably believed you! It seems like such a "me" thing to be doing.

Although it's a world away from Sainsbury's, there are actually lots of similarities.. smiling at people no matter what, experiencing language barriers and spending hours on end with no natural light. I jest, I love it. I know I'm also really lucky to have found a job for the festive season that pays well and has flexible hours. Let alone one in a new field, that I'm apparently quite good at.

Rather than bore you with the ins and outs of the job, I thought I'd list pros and cons that I found over the Christmas and New Year campaigns.

Pros
• Hourly Pay:
I was so happy when I realised this wasn't a commission based job. It's nice to know that there is a minimum I will get paid after each shift. On the occasions I received bonuses, it was even better.
• Flexible Hours:
My first few shifts I worked far too many hours, with few breaks. However, once I was given a regular spot and we learnt the trends of our shopping centre.. It was easy to leave early or stay later as needed. All we did was text the guys to keep them updated.
• Great Colleagues:
The guys in the office were all lovely, they were really enthusiastic and encouraging. Even if we had to deal with some terrible puns (t-reindeer-ing) and questionable music choices, they were always up for a laugh. The first few days, I partnered with different people, and then I introduced Emma to the job and we worked together each shift. Such fun! Especially in the quieter moments, testing different accents and sales techniques.
• Christmas Cheer
Of course, selling Christmas products meant I got to spread festive cheer to a lot of different people. At first it was odd wishing people Merry Christmas weeks in advance.. but the closer to the big day, the more fun it was. On a few occasions we even sang Christmas songs and had a little boogie.
• Air Conditioning
It's the little things.. and this one was very welcome when it was high thirties outside!

Cons
• Rejection
So much rejection. I know I'm guilty of it back home; ignoring charity campaigns in the street, walking past real quick or pretending to be busy. It is not nice being on the other end. I got used to it pretty quickly though, and it made it all the better when people did actually stop.
• Pressure
I felt like I had to sell so many antlers and get so many donations every shift. On a quiet day I would worry so much that I hadn't made enough and would push myself to smile even more, or shout even louder. I shot myself in the foot a little by being Top Seller two days in a row.. I felt so much pressure the whole week after that!
• Travel
Unfortunately, we did not get paid for our travel time. This sucked. Once I moved from the city to Bondi I was travelling 40mins to get to the office each morning. I would then take an hour journey to MacArthur Square.. to stay 3-6hrs and have to repeat the journey back. It meant a long day, especially adding waiting for the money to be counted before I could head back home.
• Nobody wants NYE hats
The New Year campaign was so much harder than the Christmas one. Being in a shopping centre 1hr away from the city centre, people weren't too eager to buy a hat. Sometimes I had to convince people, who had donated enough, to actually take one.

I can say it was certainly an experience working for The Reindeer People! I can't wait to find out the final figure raised for Kids Hope Australia, and wish them all the best.

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